拉贾·查里为SpaceX载人3号任务进行训练

In this image, NASA astronaut and SpaceX Crew-3 Commander Raja Chari trains aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft in Hawthorne, California.

Chari was selected by NASA to join the 2017 Astronaut Candidate Class and reported for duty in August 2017. The Iowa native graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1999 with bachelor’s degrees in astronautical engineering and engineering science. He earned a master’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. He also logged more than 2,500 hours of flight time in the F-35, F-15, F-16, and F-18.

The Crew-3 mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and is the third time that SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket will carry astronauts to the International Space Station for a long duration mission. The earliest targeted launch date is Sunday, Oct. 31, from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The launch will carry three NASA astronauts – mission commander Chari, pilot Tom Marshburn, and mission specialist Kayla Barron to the space station – as well as European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer, who will serve as a mission specialist. This is the first spaceflight for Chari, Barron, and Maurer. It is the third for Marshburn. The crew will complete a six-month science mission aboard the microgravity laboratory in low-Earth orbit.

Image Credit: SpaceX

在这张图片中，NASA宇航员和SpaceX载人3号任务指挥官拉贾·查里（Raja Chari）在加利福尼亚州霍桑乘坐SpaceX载人龙飞船进行训练。

查里被美国宇航局选中加入2017年宇航员候选班，并在2017年8月报到。这位爱荷华州人于1999年毕业于美国空军学院，获得航天工程和工程科学学士学位。他在麻省理工学院获得了航空和宇航学硕士学位，并毕业于美国海军试飞员学校。他还在F-35、F-15、F-16和F-18中记录了超过2500小时的飞行时间。

载人3号任务是NASA商业乘员计划的一部分，也是SpaceX载人龙飞船和猎鹰9号火箭第三次搭载宇航员前往国际空间站执行长期任务。最早的预定发射日期是10月31日星期日，从佛罗里达州肯尼迪航天中心的39A发射场发射。

这次发射将携带三名NASA宇航员——任务指挥官查里、飞行员汤姆·马什本（Tom Marshburn）和任务专家凯拉·巴伦（Kayla Barron）前往空间站，以及欧洲航天局宇航员马蒂亚斯·毛雷尔（Matthias Maurer），他将担任任务专家。这是查里、巴伦和毛雷尔的第一次太空飞行。这是马什本的第三次飞行。宇航员将在低地球轨道的微重力实验室中完成为期六个月的科学任务。

图片来源：SpaceX